My friend asked me to hire his under qualified son. How do I politely get out of the situation?

If you manage, but don’t own, this business, it could be a bit easier just telling the friend that the son didn’t meet the criteria outlined by the owner.
The father should (hopefully) understand that the favor was the interview, not a promise of a job.
This is your livelihood. You don’t have to risk that.

Simply tell him that you need someone with more experience and better qualifications. If the father argues, then go into detail like you did below your question. Add that maybe later, you will take him on as a trainee. But right now you need a qualified employee. It’s your business and this could cost you money. Sorry, friend, not at this time.

If the father chooses to allow your business decision to affect your personal relationship, so be it. Trust me, it won’t be the last time you’ll experience this. Hell, you might as well just give the father money so his kid can have a nice summer and not have to work weekends. If he argues with you, that is basically what he’s asking you to do.

You have a business to run and need someone who can work and do what needs to be done. The son needs some kind of work experience. It is not reasonable for you to pay for his temporary summer job so he can write it on his resume.
Here’s a compromise. Would your friend be willing to pay the salary for his son for the 2–3 months he is in training? If not, why should you be expected to?. If yor friend agrees then you should offer the son a position where he can learn something and contribute to your business .
If both of you agree to this arrangement I would not mention it the son.

Along with each of the superb recommendations above – great ones, all of them – assuming there is no fit in your company, even given the stipulations and “what if” scenarios suggested as possible workarounds – do you have any other recommendations or contacts for other businesses or jobs where the son might be a good fit?

That is, as a business person, you probably have far more contacts in other hiring positions than the father does, and you might be able to provide some guidance or suggestions to “try here” and… if there’s any way to do it diplomatically, suggest that the son practice interviewing with his parents prior to his next “actual” job interview. The parents obviously see him in a different light than you do, presumably not so shy and apparently uninterested, so it might be more important for them to role-play the kinds of people that the son will encounter on a job interview.

It may not be disinterest on his part that you witnessed, but a carry-over of the extreme shyness that you noted. He’s got to get over that if he’s going to work with other people in a business setting.

If it is the type of buisiness that hires interns then perhaps offer an unpaid internship with the option to hire if it works out. That is provided this person will not be in the way of running the business while being trained. Personally I would be upfront with your friend about why you don’t want to hire but I don’t know the nature of your friendships. All of mine we are upfront and honest. I don’t have that many close friends

You don’t have to tell the friend his son is being rejected.
Tell him a candidate was interviewed who was such a perfect fit you could not bear to turn them away.

Honesty is always the best policy. Just tell him like it is.

I’d say a lie is in order, @kritiper, otherwise the friendship will go out the window.

I would give the dad the old ‘Godfather’ response:

“This is business, Sonny…..it’s not personal”.

If this guy is so thoughtless and selfish that the friendship becomes damaged because you behaved responsibly and professionally, you probably don’t want him for a friend anyway….

If the dad whines and complains, look him in the eye and say….

“THIS…..IS THE LIFE…....WE’VE CHOSEN !!”

Hmm, chef asked if i’d hire his son to work in the kitchen below stairs, I fired him for his impudence & reminded him that we’re not running a fucking hostel here.

When I was a youth director in my late 20s—an eighteen year old kid wanted my job—because you make it look easy and fun if you’re good We had an extremely active program and I put in my time and more. I was a licensed professional and a seminary student, She was a cliquish teen between high school and college.

She was given the job because her dad, a church elder, told the board that I was leaving. I was able to expose the lie by expressing surprise in their decision when I wrote my cordial parting letter to the board.

Needless to say, within a month, the inexperienced teen killed the program within a month. It was just her and three friends who were about her age, meeting in an empty building.

People need to be told they are unqualified and boards and others who hire need to realize that their programs and businesses can be killed by an unqualified person.

You should not discuss this with the father, period. Simply tell the boy that he did not get the job and thank him for his interest.
Employment is between employer and employee/applicant.

Asking a friend to hire your unqualified family member or friend is worse than asking a friend for a monetary allowance.

Entry level work that anyone could do is the only thing you should hire an unqualified or unskilled friend for.